COSTA MESA, Calif. – Marlon Vera is oozing confidence ahead of his big fight against Dominick Cruz.
Looking to enter title contention, Vera (21-7-1 MMA, 13-6 UFC) meets Cruz (24-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night in San Diego headliner on Aug. 13.
Two-time UFC bantamweight champion Cruz proved he’s still in top form after back-to-back wins over Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz, but “Chito” expects to be too much for him on the night.
“I just see it as total destruction,” Vera told MMA Junkie. “How? When? I don’t know what round. Who cares. But he’s going to be down and I’m going to move forward.”
The bantamweight division’s all-time leader in finishes is fresh off a main event win against Rob Font in April and sees himself leapfrogging the other contenders if he can make an impressive statement against Cruz.
“Honestly, since they already booked all the top five and all are great fighters, I really feel whoever gets the best win is going to jump all of them,” Vera said. “Because all of them are high stakes. Dominick was a dominant champion, (Jose) Aldo is fighting Merab (Dvalishvili), Song Yadong is fighting (Cory) Sandhagen.
“So I just feel whoever puts on a better performance, and depending on who fought who in the past, is going to get it. I don’t give two f*cks about what happens in any of those fights. I’m just worried about taking the head off Dominick, kick his ass, finish him and then see what’s going on.”
